


No reminders

by fullmoontonightt



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Derek is a gym leader, Happy Ending, M/M, One Shot, Pokemon AU, Pokemon Battle, Post-Break Up, Sad with a Happy Ending, Stiles his ex-boyfriend, everyone else is a pokemon, sterek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 21:25:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3544346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullmoontonightt/pseuds/fullmoontonightt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He does not need to be reminded of the painful ending to his relationship with gym leader Derek Hale. He does not need to be reminded of the feelings he still has deep down for Derek. He doesn’t. But he does really needs this badge.</p><p>Also known as the sterek Pokémon AU the author got way too emotionally invested in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No reminders

As he looked up at the dark building, which was towering above him impressively, Stiles felt the need to swallow. He’d purposely been avoiding going to this gym, but he knew he needed this badge if he wanted to compete in the championship. Don’t get him wrong, he doesn’t want to be the champion or anything, he just wants to see if he could possibly be the champion, you know? It was a goal he'd set for himself a long time ago, wanting a purpose to his training.

Yet, as he stood there, staring mindlessly at the steel door that was the entrance to the gym, he felt no interest to go inside. He had no interest in seeing Derek Hale again.

Ugh, why does he need this stupid badge?

He does not need to be reminded of his painful relationship with Derek Hale.  He does not need to be reminded of how Derek didn’t even care when they broke up. He does not need to be reminded of the feelings he still has deep down for Derek. He doesn’t.

He recognized the Hale family logo above the door and a sad series of memories rushed through him. God, he was not ready for this. But he needed to be. He was done with hiding. He was going to compete in the championship soon and he was moving on with his life. So, he should move on from Derek too. It had been a year for god’s sake, it was time.

Before he actually could move on he had to go through the ridiculous maze that was Derek’s gym. It had Derek written all over it, the stupid walls kept disappearing and reappearing and completely disorientated Stiles. After an hour of mindlessly wandering through the same four hallways Stiles decided he was lost. But he knew he was close, the last person he’d battled had said so.

But as he walked into the same dead end for the third time Stiles lost it. Stupid Derek and his stupid maze. Angrily he kicked one of the walls, which then disappeared without warning. Stiles screamed as he lost his balance and fell over.

The floor felt rough against his cheek and Stiles groaned. This day was just getting better and better.

“You need some help?”

Stiles froze in his position as he recognized the deep voice from behind him. Oh shit, this was really happening. He could feel nerves filling up his insides as he stood up. Was he really ready for this?  He adjusted his snapback slightly and took a deep breath before turning around and facing Derek.

And fuck, Derek looked even better than he’d remembered. His dark hair was styled differently, more like the people in the city had it. His posture was broader than it used to be, his arm muscles peeking out of under his t-shirt. But his eyes were exactly how Stiles still saw them in his dreams sometimes. Fuck, how was he ever going to survive this battle?

Stiles could see the surprise flash on Derek’s face as he recognized him. “Stiles?”

 “Derek.” Stiles hoped he looked professional and cool, that the mess of feelings he was currently experiencing inside didn’t show.

“What-  what are you doing here?” Derek looked up at him, eyes wide.

“Getting my last badge.” Stiles hoped his eyes got the message across. Stiles was not here as some pathetic ex-boyfriend for Derek, he was here for himself.

Derek nodded slightly as he looked down and an awkward atmosphere came over them. Stiles frowned, he had no idea what Derek was thinking. What Derek was feeling. All Stiles knew was that there was a lot of tension between them and that it would only get worse once the battle actually started.

Derek looked back up at him, his jaw set and eyes unreadable. “You ready then?”

Stiles swallowed as he saw Derek had gone into his gym leader mode but nodded. He was ready.

As soon as Derek’s first Pokémon appeared Stiles felt like someone was pulling the strings of his heart. It was Erica, the now big black Mightyena that Stiles had played with back when she was still a Poochyena. He could see she recognized him too as she titled her head slightly while staring his way with sparkling eyes. Then she was running towards him and basically tackled him to the ground. Stiles laughed as he stood up and petted her. “Hey girl, I missed you too.”

Derek however whistled, calling Erica back to him and Stiles looked up to see a frown on his face. Stiles swallowed, suddenly feeling embarrassed, and quickly let out his Mawile Allison. He saw the recognition in Derek’s eyes and took a step back. That’s when their battle fully began.

Their Pokémon collided with their bodies and sparkling attacks. The room was light up by the bright lights of special attacks and Stiles smiled as his team was going strong. The further into the battle they got to more excited Stiles became, he loved working together with his Pokémon in a team. Loved seeing their hard work and training pay off.  He let his Arcanine Scott out for a while to let him join in on the experience. But Allison and his Breloom Isaac did most of the work in defeating Derek.

Not that that was an easy job, Derek was a gym leader and a strong one. His Pokémon were well trained and had high HP levels. But Stiles knew his ways, they’d often battled against each other back when they were still dating, so Stiles knew how Derek thought on the battlefield. But then again, Derek also knew that of Stiles.  

Throughout the fight Stiles noticed his eyes were drawn to Derek, to the way his muscles flexed when he gave commands. Stiles’ ears were open at all times to capture every word Derek said, wanting to hear the passion in his voice when his Pokémon succeeded. Stiles silently cursed himself as he felt his old feelings for Derek coming back to the surface.

Especially when he caught Derek staring and felt incapable of breaking their eye contact. As they stared at each from across the field it was like nothing had changed. Like Derek and Stiles were still in a relationship, as if they still spent their days laughing and talking together. As if this was just one of their late afternoon Pokémon battles in the sun.

But Stiles knew the truth. Derek left him. They were over.

The battle was intense and lasted long. Stiles felt the tension between Derek and him build up the further they got. He could see in Derek’s eyes that he was giving his all. Much like Stiles was, they were both filled with passion as they watched their Pokémon fight. Whenever Stiles caught Derek’s eyes he felt like a stab of lightning went through his insides, a mixture of feelings running through his mind. There was the longing, the regret but mostly the pain.

It was the third round when it happened. Stiles was just ordering Isaac to attack when he heard the bang. When he saw the bricks coming flying off the wall. When he heard the screams coming from outside. When he was blasted back by the impact of the sudden force.

He tried to sit up but his vision was still too blurry for him to succeed. Within a minute Derek was by his side, screaming in his ear. “Stiles, are you okay?”

Stiles looked up at Derek, his vision slowly returning, and saw the worry in his eyes. He nodded before allowing Derek to lift him up. He looked at Derek with confusion. “What just happened?"

“I don’t know,” Derek said as he looked around the room, “but I’m going to find out.”

With that he tried to run away from Stiles, but Stiles grabbed hold of his arm. “Not alone you aren’t.”

Derek looked at him with doubt but nodded anyway. Stiles ran to Allison, who’d gotten a brick on her feet, and called her back into her pokéball. He’d take her to a hospital as soon as he could.  Derek was waiting for him at the now gaping hole in the wall. Stiles frowned, how on earth did that happen? Derek nodded as he saw Stiles coming and together they went outside.

It was pure chaos. Rain was coming down so hard you could barely see and thunder was rumbling loudly in the sky. The wind was rushing them by so quickly and with so much strength they both had to balance themselves. It was the worst storm Stiles had ever seen. People around him were screaming, all running around with fear in their eyes and Stiles didn’t quite understand. But that’s when he saw it, the bright bolt of lightning hitting one of the surrounding buildings directly. The impact made the ground shake and it had basically blown up the entire wall. Stiles’ eyes widened as he realized this is probably what happened to Derek’s gym.

What the hell was going on? Stiles had never seen lightning act this way. This wasn’t natural. He looked up at Derek, who gave him an unknowing but shocked shrug. Suddenly a flash of blue passed them by, bright yellow electricity buzzing around it, and Stiles nearly fell down because of the force it brought with it. Derek’s arm was there to balance him, which was strangely comforting.

“Was that a Pokémon?” Stiles screamed in Derek’s ear, not wanting his voice to get lost in the wind.

“I think so!” Derek screamed back. Stiles looked up at the sky and struggled seeing anything. The rain was blocking his view and he realized he was completely soaked. But then he saw a flash of light and knew it was the Pokémon. The Pokémon was creating the lightning.

Derek grabbed his arm and pointed to the tree line in front of them. Even though his dad had always warned him to not go near trees when it’s storming Stiles nodded, trusting Derek’s plan. If he even had a plan. He followed Derek into the woods, where it was noticeably calmer. The trees were shaking at the impact of the wind but did create shelter for them, the rain wasn’t coming through.

“What the holy hell is that thing?”

Derek looked over at him and let go of his hand. “I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it’s legendary.”

“Holy shit.” Stiles said, his eyes wide. “Someone must have really pissed it off.”

Derek looked down with a small smile and then gave Stiles a full on grin. “You sure it wasn’t you?”

Stiles huffed out a breath and was about to react to the worst timed bad joke _ever_ when he saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. Knowing immediately what it was Stiles tackled Derek to the ground. A strike of lightning flashed them by, hitting the tree they’d just been standing in front of, which immediately fired up. Stiles screamed as he rolled off of Derek.“It saw us!”

The bright light was back so they quickly scrambled up and starting running for their lives. Stiles could feel his heart pumping in his chest as another bolt of lightning almost hit them. Fuck, he knew he shouldn’t have come to this gym.

 “Stiles! Do you have any flying Pokémon?” 

“No, you know I hate those.” 

“Fuck Stiles!” Derek snapped.

“What? Oh I’m sorry Derek, I didn’t know we were going to be attacked by a legendary Pokémon today!” Stiles yelled angrily. Fucking Derek, how dares he yell at Stiles right now.

Stiles screamed as a bolt of lightning stroked in front of them, only missing them by an inch. He was catching his breath when Derek grabbed his arm and pulled him along into the clearing. Once there Derek got out his Pokémon and Stiles quickly followed his example. They were going to die anyway, might as well die trying.

He looked over at Derek and felt his heart ache. Was this really how it was ending? Derek turned towards him and Stiles saw the acceptance of their fate in his eyes. For some reason that warmed Stiles’ heart with a familiar feeling of encouragement. He smiled, Derek had always been good at calming Stiles down.

A bolt of lightning crashed into a tree not too far away and both of them looked up, focus visible in their features. They were ready. After another lightning attack Stiles was able to see the Pokémon rushing by above them. He ordered Scott to be ready to fireblast the thing. Derek had gotten his Houndoom Boyd out, who looked ready for attack.

The Pokémon probably saw this, as it lowered itself into view. Stiles’ eyes widened in shock. The Pokémon looked scarily strong. He was huge, with his bright blue torso, black tail and giant white beard. Even if Derek wouldn’t have told him it was legendary, Stiles would not have made the mistake of thinking this was an ordinary Pokémon. Stiles made eye contact with it and felt trapped in the gaze of the Pokémon. Maybe, just maybe they could show it they didn’t mean any harm and it would leave. 

But of course the Pokémon had other plans. As if in slow motion Stiles saw the Pokémon lift his arm and he saw the electricity forming. He screamed out. “Scott, now!”

Scott opened his mouth and flames came out, surprising the legendary Pokémon. It growled.  Boyd also attacked, just like Derek’s other Pokémon. The attacks didn’t seem to hurt the Pokémon much though, as it kept on floating in the air and firing off lightning bolts, which their Pokémon barely avoided. A fire erupted as trees around them got hit by the flying sparks of electricity.

 Stiles frowned as he noticed that the Pokémon seemed to keep on floating in the air, even when hit with direct physical attacks. “Derek, I think it’s a flying type.”

Derek rolled his eyes annoyedly. “Just because you hate it, doesn’t make it a flying type Stiles.”

“No, I’m being serious, look.”

Derek frowned. “But if it’s flying type electricity would be its weakness? But he’s electric himself?”

Stiles looked up at Derek’s questioning look. “We can always try.”

Stiles grabbed his pokéball that contained his baby Kira. He’d not let her out before because well, she’s his baby. He only caught her a couple of weeks ago and hasn’t had the change to train her yet. He knew she wasn’t ready for this big a battle but it looked like she might just have to be.

As soon as he let her out he knew he’d made the right decision. Even though his Shinx looked incredibly tiny compared to the rest of the Pokémon on the field she looked up at the legendary Pokémon fiercely. Stiles smiled.

“Scott, Isaac, cover Kira!” He yelled as he ordered Kira to attack.

Kira knew spark and even if it wasn’t the strongest electric attack it was enough to make the legendary Pokémon freeze. Stiles saw the shock in his eyes, saw the way the Pokémon floated slightly upwards. Doubt marked its features. Stiles smiled as he realized this battle could be over sooner than they’d both thought. They didn’t need to kill it, just scare it off.

Stiles ordered Kira to go in for another electric attack and he heard Derek order his Pokémon to attack at the same time. The legendary Pokémon however countered it with its own lightning bolts. The attacks collided in a massive explosion of smoke and colour and Stiles felt himself fly backwards.

\--

Stiles woke up in a bed that was not his, but that was surprisingly comfortable. He sat up, feeling confused as to where he was,  and immediately groaned. Okay wow, something definitely happened to his head. It felt like it was about to explode.

“Stiles?”

Stiles turned and saw Derek sitting on a chair next to his bed. Stiles frowned and took a look around the rest of the room. The interior was very white and very clean and Stiles’ feeling of confusion grew. He arched an eyebrow at Derek. “Are we in your room?”

Derek huffed out a surprised laugh.“No, in the Pokémon center.”

“Oh okay.” Stiles said. That did actually make sense, Pokémon center often had rooms for worn down trainers to rest in. Stiles just hadn’t realized he was a worn down trainer. He moved his head towards Derek and was immediately reminded of the throbbing pain inside it. He groaned slightly as he let himself fall back down onto the mattress. “God, what happened to my head?”

“You- you fell into a tree.”

He could hear the poorly hidden laughter in Derek’s voice and smiled. “Really? That’s just typical.”

Derek gave him a grin and looked down at him with fondness. Stiles could feel his heart throbbing inside his chest. He suddenly realized he wanted to get out of this bed now. Out of this situation. Derek looked all comfortable and caring and Stiles’ heart could not handle seeing Derek like that, like they were still dating. Especially when he knew it wasn’t going to happen any time soon. He needs to go, seeing Derek again had not been good for him. Physically or mentally.

He shifted out from underneath the covers and looked up at Derek. “I should probably get out of here.” 

He saw Derek open his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Stiles swallowed, slight disappointment rushing through his stomach, and climbed out of the bed. He was glad he was still wearing his own clothes as he reached down to grab his bag from the floor.

When he turned back around Derek’s expression had changed. His jaw was set and there was zero emotion visible in his features. “Your Pokémon are with nurse Joy.”

Even his voice sounded emotionless. Stiles nodded, sadness filling up his insides, and glanced up into Derek’s eyes. “Goodbye then.”

“Bye.” Derek said with a courteous nod and Stiles felt something break inside.  He had wanted that goodbye to mean something, he’d wanted a proper ending to their story. Had Derek not heard the longing hope in his voice?

As he walked out of the room, out of the Pokémon center, he was hit by a massive wave of sadness.  He doesn’t know what he expected Derek to do but he sure didn’t expect it to end like that. God, he knew it had been a bad idea to come here, he knew his old feelings for Derek would come back. He knew he would basically have his heart broken all over again.

He guesses that somewhere deep inside him he had hoped, just hoped, that Derek would still have feelings for him too. That his trip to Derek’s gym would have resulted in them getting in touch again. If not a relationship, then a friendship at least. He’d just forgotten that him still having feelings didn’t mean that Derek had them. He’d just forgotten that Derek was the one who ended their relationship, not him. God, he’s such an idiot.  

That's when he heard it.

“Stiles! Wait!”

Stiles froze as he heard Derek’s voice behind him. His heart fluttered up hopefully as he turned around, a smile making its way to his face. Maybe this wasn't the end yet, maybe Derek did still have feelings for Stiles.

“Stiles, about your badge-“

Stiles felt his arms drop when the words reached his ears. His heart seemed to crumble even more than it had before, if that was even possible. Of course it was about the stupid badge, as if Derek ever cared about anything else than his stupid gym. Of course this wasn’t about Stiles, it never was. He’d just been dumb enough to get his hopes up for the second time today.

Stiles didn’t even care about the badge anymore, didn’t even care about the championship anymore. He was never going to make it anyway, just like he was apparently never getting over Derek. He didn't need to carry around a badge to constantly remind him of that.

He swallowed before looking up, not wanting to reveal any emotion towards Derek. “I don’t need it anymore.”

Derek frowned. “I thought you wanted to compete in the championship?”

“Yeah, I thought so too, but apparently that was not why I was here.”

Stiles could see the meaning of his words sinking in as Derek’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open slightly. Pity seemed to be shining through in his eyes. “Stiles..”

“Don’t Derek, just don’t. I know you don’t love me, you made that clear when we broke up okay, there’s no need to go over this again.” Stiles turned around in order to walk away, he doesn't know why he even said that, he's had enough heartbreak for one day.

“You think I didn’t love you?”

Derek’s voice sounded raw, laced with an emotion Stiles hadn’t heard from Derek in years. He turned back around and looked at Derek’s form as he squeezed his hands into fists. His posture was defensive and his eyes were harsh, but Stiles could see the emotion underneath. He shrugged, not really knowing how to respond otherwise. Not really knowing what answer Derek wanted.

“For god’s sake Stiles, how could you even think that I didn’t?

"Because you left me." Stiles said, ignoring the lump in his throat. "You just left me behind as some old clothes you didn't feel like packing, you didn't even care."

"You think I didn't care? Stiles, leaving you was the most difficult thing I've ever done." 

Stiles felt the lump in his throat grow as he shook his head. "Then why did you?"

"Because I couldn't take you away from home!" Stiles could see Derek was struggling with this as much as he was. Derek sighed. "You wouldn't have been happy here Stiles. I would barely have been home and you would have been all alone in this city, I couldn't do that do you. Take you away from your family to be all alone here. I loved you too much to do that to you."

What? Stiles felt his stomach tighten as he looked at Derek walking towards him. "I've never loved someone as much as I love you Stiles."

Stiles huffed out a breath and shook his head in disbelief.  "You're such an idiot Derek, I love you goddamnit I would go to the ends of the world for you!"

He could see Derek freeze, his shoulders tightning in their position, as he looked up at Stiles. His voice was soft and sounded unsure.  “What did you say?”

Stiles felt a blush reach his cheeks but ignored it. "That you're an idiot."

Stiles felt his heartrate go up as he looked at Derek stepping towards him. His voice wavered slightly as he spoke up. "And that I might still love you."

 Derek huffed out a laugh, which looked more like a smile, and grabbed hold of Stiles' shirt, pulling him closer before crashing their lips onto each other. Stiles’ mouth dropped open in surprise and Derek took the invitation in.  Derek’s tongue scraped across his and Stiles’ mind finally caught up to speed. Derek was kissing him. He should be kissing Derek.  He quickly starting moving with Derek, going along with the dance their tongues were currently having. He closed his eyes and threw his arms around Derek’s broad shoulders. Derek’s hands let go of his shirt in return and moved towards his lower back. Their bodies aligned as perfectly as they always had and Stiles felt his heart flutter as he realized how much he’d missed this. How much he’d really missed Derek.

The kiss wasn’t perfect, it was messy and sloppy but it said everything Stiles had wanted it to say, from I miss you to I need you to you're such an idiot. He could feel Derek’s longing as his hands were moving across Stiles’ back wildly and Stiles moaned as he felt his own body responding to Derek’s touch. He rocked his hips onto Derek’s and he heard the other man grunt. Their lips broke their contact and Derek let his forehead rest against Stiles’.  He bit his lip as he looked up into Stiles’ eyes. “Will you stay?”

Stiles was still catching his breath but his lips broke into a grin anyway. “Forever.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> God, I don't even know what this is. This started out as a quick drabble after the weekend I rediscovered my DS and the joys of Pokémon. But I kind of made it really serious so yeah. I usually don't even like post-break up that much??
> 
> For the hardcore pokémon fans who were flinching through this the entire time: yes, the pokémon are from different generations and yes, Scott the Arcanine is officially also a legendary pokémon and should easily have been able to take on Thundurus but come on, Arcanine is the perfect Scott so I made him an ordinary pokémon.
> 
> Well, I want to thank you all for reading, I love you for it (even more when you comment ♥).


End file.
